Airship



Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

4 S HEETS Q. v. mSTEFANo.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I9, I9IT Q. V. DISTEFANO.

AIBSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I9, 1911.

Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

WITNESSES ATTOBIIIEY Q. vl 111515111110.

AIRSHIP.

AAPPLlcATmN FILED DEC. 19. 1911.

1193289369:, Patented J an. 20, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- ATTORN EY Q. V. DISTEFANO.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION HLED DEc.19. 19u.

111528,36@ Patented Jan. 20, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTOR N EY QUIRINO DISTEFANO, 0F WATERBURY, CONNEQTICUT.

AIRsHIP. p

Speeicatioxi of Letters Patent. Patented Jann.' 250), 1920.

Application filed December 19, 1917. Serial No. 207,951.

To all lwhom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, QUIRrNo V. Drs'rnrANo, a subject of the King of Italy, residing at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airships, of which the following is a specifieation.

This invention relates to air ships and has for its object the production of an eilicient air ship which is not only capable of. ying through the air, but may Aalso travel upon the surface of water, or in a submerged coniition through water as well as upon dry and.

Another object of this invention is the productionV of a simple and efficient means for permitting the craft or ship toebe'easily submerged. f

With these and other objects in view., this invention consists of certain novel constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view of ship,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional' view through the air ship,

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of the air Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through one end of the submerging tubes,

Fig. 5 is agperspective viewof the means for'operating the closure cap carriedi'by the respective ends of the submerging tubes,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of thel clutch throwing' levers,

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow. By referring to the drawings, it will be seen that 1 designatesthe body of the machine which is provided with a rearwardly extending tapering end 2 having a stabilizer 3 formed thereon, for the purpose of assisting in keeping the body of the machine 1 upon an even keel. The body 1 is supported u on a plurality of rear driving wheels 4 wlhich wheels 4 arecarried by a driving .shaft 5 extending through a transmission casmg' supported upon the bottom of the body 1. A

drlvmg gear 7 is carried bythe rear axle or` driving shaft 5 and meshes with a beveled gear 8 carried by an intermediate driving I shaft 9, the shaft 9 extending Alongitudinally through the transmission casing 6 and carrying a beveled gear 10 upon the upper end thereof, which beveled gear 10 meshes with a beveled gear 11 carried by the axle driving shaft 12. A sprocket wheel 13 is carried by the shaft 12 and this sprocket wheel 13 is driven by a sprocket chain 14 actuated by means of a clutch 15. The clutch 15 may be thrown or shifted into and out of operation by means of a shifting link 16 shown in detail in Fig. 6, the link 16 being engaged by an operating lever 17 carried within the pilot house 18. This pilgt house 18 is supported upon thev top 0f the body 1 as shown clearly in the drawings. The link 16v is provided with a depending forked shaped end 19 as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing ffor the purpose of permitting a link 16 to easily and conveniently engage the clutch 15. i The clutch 15 is carried by the main d iving shaft 20 and this main driving sha 2() is connected to, and operated by the driving ennected to the driving engine 21 and extends up into the pilot house 18 as shown in Fig. 2 ofthe' drawing.

An upper set of driving propellers 23 is supported upon an upper driving shaft 24, the driving shaft 24 being carried by the brackets 25 mounted upon the top of the body 1. The upper driving shaft 24 is driven by means of a sprocket chain 26 passing over' a sprocket wheel 27 carried by the shaft 24, and this sprocket chain 26 also passes over a sprocket wheel 28, which sprocket wheel 28 is. adapted to be engaged by means of the, clutch 29 for locking the same inv an operative position with thedriving shaft 20. This clutch 29 is shifted by means of an operating lever 30 through the medium of an operating link 31.y

A lower driving shaft 32 is carried by the body 1 and carries a plurality of lower driv- .ing blades 33'as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The shaft 32 carries a sprocket wheel 34' over which sprocket wheel 34 passes a s rocket chain 35, the sprocket cham 35 also passing over a loosel"y mounted'spreeket wheel S56-carried by the shaft .20. lcclutch 37 is slidably mounted upon the shaft 20 and is adapted to lock in engagement with carried by the lower end of the lifting shaft and each beveled gear 42 meshes with the beveled gears 43 carried by the driving shaft 44. This driving shaft 44 is driven from a sprocket wheel 45, over which sprocket wheel 45 passes a sprocket chain 46, a sprocket 46 also passing over the sprocketwheel 47 which is loosely mounted upon the Shaft 2'0. A clutch 48 is slidably mounted upon the shaft 20 and is adapted to be engaged with the sprocket Wheel 47 by shifting the link- 49 through the operation of the lever 50. A forward steering wheel 51 is carried by a frame 52, the frame 52 being carried by a steering rod- 53 which steering rod extends up -into the pilot house 18. It should be understood of course, that the lwheels y4 and 51 are only employed when the machine is traveling upon the surface of the ground.

A steering rudder 54 is suspended below the body 1 upon 'a pivot 55 and "this rudder Y54 is operated by means of a pinion 56, which pinion 56 meshes with a rack 57 secured to Ythe rudder 54, for the purpose of swinging the rudder 54 upon the body 1 and steering the same. A guiding loop 58 is carried by the rudder 54, the guiding loop 58 being held in engagement with the rudder 54 by means of the ears 59. A iding eye 6() is carried by the bottom of the y 1 and one of the side bars 61 of the loopV 58 extends through this eye 60 for the purpose ofguiding therudder 54 as the same is being swung, and preventing the swinging of the rudder 54 beyond a predetermined degree. The pinion 56 is carried by a shaft 62 which shaft `carries a beveled gear 63 `upon its upper end and meshing with a beveled gear 64 carried by the auxiliary steering shaft 65. A beveled gear 6G is carried by the shaft 65 and meshes with a beveled gear 67 carried by the steering shaft 68.

The pilot house 18 is provided with an inclined roof'69 and the pilot house 18tapers toward each end as indicated at 7 0 in Fig. 1, for the purpose of permitting the air ship to travel with the v.least amount of resistance.. Thepilo ouse 18 carries a plurality 'of standards 71 which standards 71 support a balloon 72 comprising an elongated body of suitable construction.

lA submerging tube 73 is supported upon each side of the body 1 and these submerging tubes 73 are preferably inclined to' a slight de ree downwardly toward their forward en A closurfecap 74 is adapted to close each end of the tube 73 and each of,

these closure caps 74 comprises a `tapering outer end which is substantially' conical iny shape for offering the least amount of resistance. The forward closure caps 74 are connectedat their upper ends to an operating.

shaft 75 carried by the body l and journaled Vthereon'in any suitable cpnvenient manner.

The rear closure caps 74 are connected at their lower ends to an operating shaft 77 which operating .shafts are journaled upon the body 1 as'shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The angularly extending ends of these is adapted to belocked'in engagement with the quadrant 81.

Should it be desired to raise the machine in the air, the lifting propellers 41 are operated by throwing a clutch 48 into an opera tive position, and after the machine has attained the desired elevation or. altitude, the driving propellers 23 and 33 may bev thrown into operation by shifting the clutches 37 and 29. Oh the other'hand, should it be desired to descend to the-ground or to the surface of the water, the propelling means may be rendered inactive and the machine allowed to descend, the same being held against a rapid dcent b balloon 72.: When 'the mac ine reaches the surface of the ground, the same will rest upon the wheels 4 and 51, and by throwing clutch 15 into an' operative position, the machineor air ship may7 be propelled over the surface of the ground. Should the air ship fall upon the surface of the water, the same may be driven or propelled upon the surface of the water, when so desired by throwing the clutch 37 into an operative position, for the purpose of driving the propeller blades 33. y

Should it vbe desired to submerge the ship, the end caps 74 are o ened allowing the submerging tubes 73 to filled with water, whereupon the caps 74 may be closed if so desired for maintaining the ship in this submerged position. While the ship is submerged, the same may be driven both by the propellers 23 and 33. Should it be desired to again rise to the surface and lift the machine froin the water, the elevating propeller bladesV 41 may be operated for lifting-f the tubes above the surface of the water wheremeans of the upon the caps v7 4 may be opened for the purpose of permitting the water to be emptied from the tubes 73. If it is so desired the caps 74 may be left open while the machine is traveling in a partially submerged condition. When the` machine is traveling in a submerged condition, the upper side of the balloon will extend slightly above the surface of the water.

It should'be of course understood that certain obvious detail changes may be made in the present device without departing' fromv the spirit of the invention, so lon as these changes fall within the scope o the appended claims.

Doors 18 are carried by the front of the pilot house 18 as shown in Fig. 2. Y

What is claimed is I l. A machine of the class described having a body, lifting ropellers carried by the body and having s afts extending into the body, a longitudinal shaft within the body, means to drive the shafts of the propellers from said longitudinal shaft, an engine, a shaft driven by said engine, means to drive the longitudinal shaft from the engine shaft, upper and lower driving pro ellers having horizontal shafts, means to rive the horizontal shafts from the engine shaft, a third horizontal shaft being supported by the base of the body and driven from the engine shaft, an inclined casing extending from' the body, an inclined shaft in said casing, driving connections between the inclined shaft and the 'horizontal shaft mounted on the. base of the body for driving said inclined shaft, traction mea-ns carried by said inclined casing anddriven in said inclined shaft, a pilot house mountedon the body, and control means for the'propellers and their driving connections operable from said pilot house.l

2. A machine of the class described having a body, lifting propellers carried by the body and having s afts extending-into the body, a longitudmal shaft within the body, means tod'rive the shafts of the propellers vfrom said longitudinal shaft, an engine, a

shaft driven by sald engine, means to drive the longitudinal shaft from the engine shaft,

'upper and lower driving propellers having horizontal shafts, means to drive the horizontal shaft from the engine shaft, a third horizontal shaftbeing supported by the base of the body and driven from the engine shaft, an inclined easing extending from the body, an inclined shaft in said casing, drivingv connections between the inclined shaft and the horizontal shaft mounted on the base of the body for driving said inclined shaft, traction means carried by said inclined casing and driven by said inclined shaft, and controlling means for the propellers and their driving connections.

3. A machine of the class described having a body, an engine, a shaft driven by said engine, upper and lower driving propellers having horizontal shafts, means to drive the horizontal shafts from the engine shaft, a third horizontal shaft being supported by the base of the body and driven from the engine shaft, an inclined casing extending from the body, an inclined shaft in said casing, driving connections between'the inclined shaft and the horizontal shaft mounted on the base of the body for driving said inclined shaft, traction neans carried b'y` said inclined casing and driven bysaid inclined shaft', a pilot house mounted on the body, and control means for the propellers and their driving connections operable from said pilot house.

4. A machine of the class described having a body, an engine, a shaft driven by said engine, upper and lower driving propellers having horizontal shafts, means to drive the horizontal shafts from the engine shaft, a

third horizontal shaft being support/ed by' the base of the body and driven from the` engine shaft, an inclined casing extending from the body, an inclined shaft in said casing, driving connections between the inclined shaft and the horizontal shaft mounted on the base of the body for driving said clined shaft, and controlling means for the propellers and ltheir driving connections.

- In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence -of two witnesses.- y

QUIRINO V. DISTEFANO. Witnesses 1 GIovANNI AvEmiANn HUMBERTE. MANGINI. 

